Photo: John Phelan · CC BY-SA 3.0Griswold’s library logs 1.4 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries its size
Slater Library serves 15,852 people in and around Griswold. Last year it lent 36K books, movies and e-books and logged 23K visits.
The short version on Griswold’s library
Below typical on every measure
Against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people, Slater Library sits below the middle on all seven per-resident measures we compare, and in the bottom 30% on six. How it compares ↓
The branch is a National Register landmark
Slater Library and Fanning Annex has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 2002. Today’s library there has 6,400 square feet. The building ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 14% of the people the system serves have a library card, against a typical 40% for its size. How it compares ↓
Runs on less money than most
Slater Library spends $12 per resident, less than 93% of similar-size libraries (typical: $43). What your card is worth ↓
Most programs are for young children
67% of the 255 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 2 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
This summary is written from the numbers on this page. Numbers are the library’s own report to the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024; Slater Library serves 15,852 people in and around Griswold, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Griswold’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Griswold is ahead of 68% of U.S. towns, #56 of 155 in Connecticut. Griswold is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups ranks highest.
Civic life counts registered nonprofits, library visits and online volunteering groups, so it can miss civic life that runs through congregations, mutual aid or neighbors looking out for each other.
Library visits: IMLS Public Libraries Survey, FY2024. Nonprofits: IRS Exempt Organizations Business Master File, October 2026. Volunteering: Social Capital Atlas (Opportunity Insights), from data by Meta Platforms, Inc.; Chetty et al., Nature 2022. How TownRatings grades civic life →
43 community nonprofits are registered in Griswold
3.7 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: environment & animals.
Community nonprofits, by kind
Counted from the IRS list of tax-exempt organizations by mailing address (fractions where a ZIP code spans towns). Congregations are counted apart (6 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 2 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
9.4%
9.4% of Griswold’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 7.5% in the typical Connecticut town and 7.5% nationally.
Volunteering: Social Capital Atlas (Opportunity Insights), from data by Meta Platforms, Inc.; Chetty et al., Nature 2022. ZIP-code figures, weighted by where Griswold’s residents live; 2022.
A National Register landmark since 2002
Slater Library, 26 Main St., Griswold.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Slater Library branch.
New in Griswold? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Slater Library and Fanning Annex
Slater Library and Fanning Annex was added to the National Register of Historic Places on Jan 28, 2002. It is significant for its social history, industry and architecture at the state level. Its architecture is described as Late Victorian and Richardsonian and Romanesque.
The Slater Library is the public library of Griswold, Connecticut. It is located in a historic building at 26 Main Street in the borough of Jewett City.
More about the building →Below most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Slater Library serves 15,852 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 21 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Slater Library system. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
36K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
8,204 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 3 kids’ programs a week
Story times, clubs, classes and events, across the whole system, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $3.10 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Griswold cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $185K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $576K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $185K budget.
Fine-free. No late fees on books returned late.
Retail prices are typical, rounded down: a new book $17, a kids’ book $12, an e-book or e-audiobook $15, a movie rental $4, a class or program $10, a computer or Wi-Fi session $3. The average cardholder’s month = the library’s yearly loans, attendance and Wi-Fi sessions ÷ its 2,298 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Who has a library of their own, and how much each town borrows. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| North Stonington | Wheeler Library fine-free | 8.4 | 35 | B+ |
| Voluntown | Voluntown Public Library fine-free | 5.6 | 30 | B |
| Preston | Preston Public Library fine-free | 3.2 | 31 | B− |
| Plainfield | Aldrich Free Public Library | 1.0 | 23 | C− |
| Griswold | Slater Library fine-free | — | 33 | B+ |
| Jewett City | Slater Library fine-free | — | 33 | B+ |
| Lisbon | None of its own | — | — | C+ |
Loans = print + digital items borrowed in the library’s fiscal year, per person it serves. — = no library of its own, a county or regional system (its numbers cover many towns), or no report. Civic life: — = not graded (unincorporated places, whose nonprofits can’t be placed by mailing address, or towns with fewer than two of the three inputs).
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Slater Library serves 15,852 people in and around Griswold, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Griswold.
Hours are the survey’s yearly average; libraries are compared with others serving about as many people. How TownRatings uses library figures →
Questions about the library and civic life in Griswold
Does Griswold have a public library?
Yes. Slater Library, 26 Main St., serves 15,852 people in and around Griswold (the survey’s count) and is open about 33 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Slater Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
Yes to both: no late fees, and e-books, audiobooks and research databases with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Griswold’s library?
It logged 1.4 visits and lent 2.3 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Griswold’s civic life grade?
B+ Griswold is ahead of 68% of U.S. towns on civic life, #56 of 155 in Connecticut. The grade combines library visits per resident, community nonprofits per 1,000 residents and the share of adults 25–44 in volunteering groups. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Griswold.
Libraries: Institute of Museum and Library Services, Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024. Each library reports its own numbers. Distances are straight-line from the town center. Building history: National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places; photo via Wikimedia Commons. “What your card is worth” uses typical retail prices and is an estimate, not an official figure.